Rusty nails

[volleyballgirl35714]

So likes about 20 minutes ago I stepped on a rusty nail and I took it out but it is burning really bad now. Is this normal? Should I have my schools nurse check it out tomorrow if I go to school

[Rynn]

Someone else probably has better knowledge, but the thing that comes to my mind is making sure you clean it up and finding out if you have an updated tetanus shot. And, you can't really go wrong with getting it checked out. I hope everything goes okay.

[Patent Pending]

As said above, my first thought would be to check you've got an up to date Tetanus shot. Personally, I would get it checked out ASAP.

x x x

[volleyballgirl35714]

I just got that shot for school likes year ago. And I'll have it checked out at school today

[Snow White.]

Good idea. The tetanus is time limited (I believe) so it depends on when your last one was if it is all effective. School nurse will know what year it is given if you got it at school.

[Leo Pard]

Yeah, you'll probably have to have another tetanus shot but I don't think a school nurse can do that so it's probably best to see a nurse at your GP surgery or something similar. Even going down to urgent care could be a good idea.

[Rynn]

A tetanus shot should be good for 10 years, but my doctors said make sure it's within the last 7 years if you're at risk often (aka: if you cut). So, if your shot is within the past 7 years you should be covered vaccine wise. I hope you're doing okay. What'd the school nurse say?

[Animad]

In terms of tetanus vaccines the guidelines likely vary across the world as current guidelines in the uk tend to be that if you had you 5 tetanus vaccines as a baby/ child then you don't need any for the rest of your life. However, if you have an accident that puts you at risk of developing tetanus then they will give you an injection of tetanus antigen to boost how quickly your body will be able to identify it and therefore fight it off before it really takes hold.

Anyway, the user states she had one for school about a yr ago; this would've been the vaccine and therefore she is covered though the bigger risk now is the wound getting infected which is often a much greater risk with rusty nails and such than tetanus.

As the user said she would get this checked out by the school nurse tomorrow, so on the 18th and a week has almost passed now with no response from the user I suggest that we leave this thread alone now until the user posts. There is no benefit in not doing and if we have a busy day/ night on the board then this could get things pushed further down which are more urgent.